The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Hanover is a Bible believing, Bible preaching church “built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.” We acknowledge Christ alone as our only Savior, sovereign Lord and Head.

We believe and confess that, “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” so that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” We therefore recognize the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, infallible and inerrant, the only rule of faith and life.

We trace our roots and heritage back to the great Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. We maintain and follow the Biblical truth and principles proclaimed by the Reformers:

Scripture Alone – Isaiah 8:20, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

Grace Alone – Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Faith Alone – Galatians 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Christ Alone – John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

God’s Glory Alone – Romans 11:36, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

The primary goal of the Church is the worship of the Triune God that continues in eternity.

We receive and adhere to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms of 1647 as summarizing the historic Christian faith.

We are committed to Reformed theology commonly referred to as Calvinism, emphasizing the sovereignty of God in creation, providence, and salvation and the trustworthiness of Scripture. This is Biblical historic Christianity.

We believe that God by His singular care and providence has kept pure in all ages the original text of Scripture in Hebrew in the Old Testament and Greek in the New Testament. Therefore we hold to the Reformation text of Scripture used by the Westminster Assembly, that is the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Received Text as true and authentic texts.

We believe in the importance and integrity of the record of creation in the book of Genesis that God created all things in the space of six ordinary days.

We seek to uphold the standard of the Lord’s Day, the Christian Sabbath. We place a great importance on the value of corporate worship of the triune God emphasizing the central role of the faithful preaching and teaching of the whole counsel of God. We firmly believe in the regulative principle of worship – only what God commands in the Bible can be done in our worship of Him. John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” 1 Corinthians 1:21, “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

We hold to Constitutional Presbyterianism which is nothing other than the Reformation principle of Scripture alone applied to church polity. The court system of presbytery polity is available when needed but fellowship is the main emphasis. Essentially, the power of the court is to declare law rather than legislate. Procedural church discipline is most successful when achieved privately, locally, patiently, and gently. It should be extremely rare that a discipline matter comes to presbytery and in such cases there should be many tears and a sense of profound failure at not resolving the discipline matter at the local level. The preaching of the Word, the Sacraments, and the living of the Word should be viewed as the most common form of church discipline [ as a form of ‘education’]. Church discipline includes the receiving of members. Church discipline is an exercise of ‘the power of the keys’. But a “litigious” disposition should be discouraged so that discipline can be more easily accomplished in a brotherly spirit. Church discipline is for the glory of God, the good of the church, and the reclaiming of the sinner.

The denomination / presbytery holds no real property.

There are no ongoing moderators, boards, committees, or salaried staff at presbytery level or above.

To maintain the unity of the brethren Psalms alone are sung in the worship services of presbytery. The local pastor with his session determines the music for its congregational worship services maintaining a Biblical standard honoring our triune God.